Anthropology

In addition to his talk on Thursday, there will be a lunch with graduate students on Friday, March 25 at 12:30 in the Diaspora Room, 1350 Turlington.  Please plan to attend if you would like to get to know Dr. Ralph.

Dr. Laurence Ralph is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences in the Departments of Anthropology and African and African American Studies at Harvard University.  He is the author ofRenegade Dreams: Living Through Injury in Gangland Chicago (University of Chicago Press).

His scholarly work explores how the historical circumstances of police abuse, mass incarceration, and the drug trade naturalize disease, disability, and premature death for urban residents, who are often seen as expendable. Theoretically, his research resides at the nexus of critical medical and political anthropology, African American studies, and the emerging scholarship on disability. He combines these literatures to show how violence and injury play a central role in the daily lives of black urbanites.Laurence explored these diverse themes in Anthropological Theory, Disability Studies Quarterly,Transition, and Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power. 

Laurence earned a PhD Master of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia Institute of Technology where he majored in History, Technology and Society.